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Monday, 9 December 2013

Book: Blood is Thicker by Meredith Mansfield

I received a copy of Blood is Thicker because of the blog tour of the first book, Blood Will Tell, in exchange for my review.

Now mated to a dragon, Valeriah finds herself not only a half-werewolf, quarter-unicorn hybrid, but a scarlet dragon as well. She suffers from violent indigestion which she believes is due to her being a dragon and having to eat purely vegetarian at some points in the month due to her unicorn blood (unicorns are genetically vegetarian). When her and husband, Rolf, realise that she is in fact pregnant, a worrying series of events occurs that sends them back to the other side and trying to sort out the mess Zobran left behind.

Loved these two books! The first thought that crossed my mind when I finished Blood is Thicker was that I desperately want to know if there's going to be a third book (and a fourth and a fifth...), I've had nowhere near enough of Valeriah and Rolf!

The characters in Blood is Thicker are the same characters as are in Blood Will Tell with only a few additions. Though the Gold-Wings' sister, Kamara does play a larger role in this book as a more central character. She was an interesting addition, particularly as Cristel took a role further back, and Valeriah is far from a naive innocent. But Kamara was there to grow as well, and I thought that it was pretty obvious that she did.

Similarly Rolf and Valeriah's relationship progressed, what I liked about it was that now they are married, and both dragons, their relationship isn't perfect, and between them they still have to work hard at it. This is of course made more difficult by the fact that their eggs are in danger, but the point still stands. It is much deeper than a lot of fictional relationships that just seem fixed in the same circumstances.

Something that struck me throughout both books was the richness of the culture and traditions of the Chimerians, there was so much of it, and it seemed clear to me that the author has developed more than has already been described. I especially liked the way that the cross-species barrier was eradicated and explained away, well not explained, but the problem was resolved in a good way.

I loved these two books, and will be on the look out, with my fingers crossed, for a third!